The Kerala chapter of the Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists, an organisation representing professional and academic pathologists, has sought steps to improve working conditions at labs for better diagnostic results.
The job of the pathologist is to give diagnostic information to patients and clinicians. Through accurate lab testing, they help diagnose chronic diseases and manage their treatment.
Association functionaries such G. Rajan, Ani Praveen, K.P. Aravindan, and A. Gouri told the media on Wednesday that all Level-2 and Level-3 labs should have an in-house pathologist as a full-time employee. The staff pattern proposed in the Clinical Establishment Act should be strictly followed. Only a qualified pathologist should report procedures such as peripheral blood smear tests and fine needle aspiration cytology. All abnormal Complete Blood Count tests should be seen and commented on by such experts. Internal quality control should be regularly run for all tests and must be supervised by a pathologist or a qualified bio-chemist.
A laboratory should be given licence only if it does at least 80% of all tests within itself. In all outsourced tests, it should be ensured that the referred lab has a proper internal quality control system. Dr. Aravindan pointed out that the costs of tests should not be too low there as it would raise suspicions that the tests are not done as per rigorous standards. Such sloppy approach could also lead to false diagnosis.
All anatomic pathology tests, which require the interpretation of a trained pathologist, should be done in the lab where the specimen is collected. If there is a need for a second opinion, it should be referred to another pathologist. The association functionaries also sought proper salaries for pathologists and appointment of required number of such staff in hospitals in view of the high number of tests being conducted there.
